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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15.1

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham

aśvatthaḿ prāhur avyayam

chandāḿsi yasya parṇāni

yas taḿ veda sa veda-vit

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is said that there is an imperishable banyan tree that has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.

Author Name:-Sri Ramanuja

Purport

Sri Ramanuja

15.1 The Lord said — The Vedas speak of the imperishable ‘Asvattha tree’ called Samsara, which has its ‘roots above and branches below’, in such passages as the following: This Asvattha tree with its roots above and branches below is eternal’ (Ka. U., 6.1), and ‘He who knows the tree with its roots above and branches below’ (Tai. A., 1.11.5). It has its roots above since it has its roots in Brahma (the Creator otherwise known as Hiranyagarbha) who is seated above the seven worlds. It has ‘branches below’ ending with denizens like men, animals, beasts, worms, insects, birds and immovables. It is ‘immutable’ since it cannot be felled, being of the form of a continual flow. It can be felled only at the dawn of perfect knowledge which causes detachment. They say that the leaves of this Asvattha tree constitute the Vedas. ‘The Vedas are said to be the leaves’, since this tree of Samsara increases by actions prompted by worldly desires as taught in certain Srutis as, ‘He who desires prosperity should sacrifice a white animal to Vayu’ (Taitt. Sam., 2.1.1) and ‘The desirer of offspring shall offer to Indra and Agni a sacrifice with eleven cups of rice-cakes’ (Ibid., 2.2.1). Indeed the tree flourishes with the help of leaves. He who knows the Asvattha of such a nature ‘knows the Vedas’. The Vedas also set forth the means of felling this tree of Samsara. He who understands this is called the knower of the Vedas, since knowledge of the nature of the tree to be cut off is helpful to the knowledge concerning the means of felling the tree. This tree spreads downward with men etc., who are the products of their Karma, as branches. It again spreads above into Gandharvas, Yaksas, gods, etc. They are nourished by the Gunas of Sattva etc. They have tender shoots augmented by sense-objects. How does this happen? Sri Krsna explains:

Author Name:-Sri Adi Shankaracharya

Purport

Sri Adi Shankaracharya

15.1 Urdhva-mulam, that which has its roots upwards:- Brahman, possessed of the unmanifest power in the form of Maya, is referred to by the word ‘upward’ because of Its subtleness in point of time by virtue of Its being the Cause, and also because of Its eternality and vastness; and That is the root (mulam) of this world. The Tree of the World which is such, is urdhva-mulam. This accords with the Upanisadic text, ‘This has its roots above and branches below’ (Ka. 2.6.1). In the Purana also we have: It sprouts from the Root in the form of the Unmanifest; it grows through the sturdiness of that very One. And it has abundance of intelligence as its trunk, and the appertures of the organs as the hollows. The great elements are its boughs [A.G. takes the word visakha (boughs) in the sense of stambha, perhaps meaning the aerial roots.-Tr.]; so also, it has the objects of perception as its leaves. It has virtue and vice as its beautiful flowers, and happiness and sorrow are the fruits it bears. This eternal Tree presided over by Brahman is a means of livelihood to all creatures. And this verily is the resort of Brahman [Or, etat brahma-vanam means: This Tree has Brahman as its object of adoration, its support. For, the world has nothing but Brahman as its support.] in it Brahman dwells for ever. Having felled and split this Tree with the great sword of Knowledge, and then attaining the bliss of the Self, one does not return from that (bliss).’ (Cf. Mbh. As. 47.12-15.) That Tree which has its roots upwards and is constituted by the enchantment of mundane existence, and adhah-sakham, which has the branches downwards-mahat, [See under 7.4.-Tr.] egoism, subtle elements, etc. are its branches (sakhah), as it were, extending downwards (adhah); so, it has its branches downwards-; that Tree with its branches downwards, which does not (a) last (stha) even for the morrow (svah), is asvatthah (lit. Peepul tree). Ahuh, they say; that the asvatthah, Peepul Tree, undergoing destruction every moment; is avyayam, imperishable, and constituted by the enchantments of mundane existence. Having been in existence from time without beginning, that Tree of the World is imperishable. It is, indeed, will known as the sustainer of the beginningless and ceaseless series of bodies etc. They call that the imperishable. Of that very Tree of the World here is another qualification: Yasya, that Tree of the World of which; chandamsi-chandas being derived in the sense of covering (protecting)-, the Vedas in the form of Rk, Yajus and Sama; are the parnani, leaves, as it were. As leaves serve as protectors of a tree, so the Vedas serve as the protectors of the world; for they reveal what are virtue and vice as also their causes and results. Yah, he who; veda, knows; tam, that-the Tree of the World along with its root, as has been explained; sah, he; is a vedavit, knower of the Vedas, i.e. versed in the meaning of the Vedas. Since, apart from this Tree of the World along with its root, not even an iota of any other thing remains to be known, therefore he who knows the purport of the Vedas is omniscient. In this way the Lord euligizes the knowledge of the Tree together with its root. An imagery of the other parts of that very Tree of the World is being presented:

Author Name:-Sri Madhvacharya

Purport

Sri Madhavacharya

Hari OM! The nature of what is known as freedom or bondage in samsara or the perpetual cycle of birth and death is delineated in this chapter by Lord Krishna. The word urdhva means above as in superior to. The Supreme Lord is the superior quality abiding in all virtues. He is superior principle residing within the atma or immortal soul. Urdhva means paramount in all respects. The word andhah means below and is base, mundane and even vile. The branches refer to the jivas or embodied beings who are subjected to transmigration in samsara and they include the demigods also headed by Brahma who lives for billions of years. Although asvattha refers to a banyan tree another meaning is everlasting in the sense that it exists in a continuous stream without changing even though innumerable myriads of jivas are coming and going incessantly. But their coming and going does not change its nature. Whatever form and function it had in the beginning of creation that form and function it will have at all times throughout creation. So that is why it is known as everlasting and indestructible. The word chamdamsi refers to the leaves of the tree which are the aphorisms of the Vedic scriptures which propunds what actions in life are to be performed and what activities are to be performed and the results of violating or adhering to the Vedic injunctions determines the karma or reactions to actions that one will have to experience in joy or misery. These reactions are like the fruits of a tree which can never come about without the leaves.

Now begins the summation.

Hari! Hari OM! What was briefly mentioned in chapter 13 is now elaborated upon by Lord Krishna with further clarification. The roots being distinctly above refer to the Supreme Lord as the universal tree even as the Earth representing prakriti or the material substratum pervading physical existence is the reflection of this tree. Attributes of consciousness represent the primary roots while non-consciousness are the secondary roots. Here the Vedic association of consciousness and unconsciousness as being similar to a tree is well known. The Earth like the demigods activates the conscious and the Supreme Lord becomes the stable and eternal root. The unconscious who are base and vile are put in bondage by a great sense of false ego get attracted by their senses and attached to the elements. The chamdamsi or leaves are the karma due to activity and the fruits are desires such as name, fame, wealth and moksa or liberation from material existence. Another meaning of chamdamsi is to unseal. Thus the words of the Vedic scriptures are called chandas or that which unseals the esoteric meaning of the eternal wisdom of the Vedas.

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15.1

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